Manuel Meana (21 October 1901 – 1 August 1985) was a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He was capped for Spain 7 times and was part of Spain's squad for the football tournament at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

, but he did not play in any matches. Under the presidency of Santiago Bernabéu he was the creator and first director of the Real Madrid Sports City, a position he held until his retirement.

Club career

Born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

, Meana began to play football in his hometown club,

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

, making his debut at El Molinón on 2 September 1917 against

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

International career

In May 1918, he was summoned to play for the Cantabric national team, a side consisting of players from the provinces of Asturias and Cantabria, being a member of the team that participated in the 1918 Prince of Asturias Cup, an inter-regional

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

organized by the

RFEF The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

. He made his international debut on 9 October 1921 (aged 19) in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

that ended in a 2–0 win. He played in seven matches for the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...

from 1921 to 1924, and scored just once, netting the first-ever goal in the Iberian derby when he scored the opening goal of a 3–1 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 18 December 1921, which is also the first-ever goal that Portugal ever conceded. Being

player, he was eligible to play for the Asturias national team, and he was part of the team that reached the final of the

1922-23 Prince of Asturias Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, an inter-regional

organized by the

. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against Galicia, they fell 0-1 behind early in the match, and it was Meana who equalized still in the first-half, which paved the way for

José Luis Zabala José Luis Zabala (14 December 1898 – 22 April 1946) was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He played in four matches for the Spain national football team in 1923 and 1924, sc ...

to score a second-half brace to seal the title with a 3–1 win. This was his only goal for Asturias, but its also the most important in the team's history.

Managerial career

In 1928, despite still being a player, he trained

, and he managed to lead them to the semifinals of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. He repeated his stay on the Gijón bench in two other stages: 1939-40 and 1948-49.

International goals

Goals for Spain

:''Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Meana goal.

Goals for Asturias

:''Asturias score listed first, score column indicates score after each Meana goal.

Honours

International

; Cantabric * Prince of Asturias Cup: **Runner-up (1):

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

; Asturias Prince of Asturias Cup: *Champions (1): 1922-23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meana, Manuel 1901 births 1985 deaths Spanish men's footballers Spain men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Gijón Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain